"HERAT, Afghanistan — Near the heart of this traffic-clogged western city stands a fortress almost as long as three football fields, with battlements that rise 10 stories above the swarming streets.
The Citadel of Herat traces to the Timurid dynasty of the 15th century. The Sunni Muslim tribe declared Herat the capital of its vast Persian Empire, and the brick stronghold was the crown jewel for ensuing regimes that seized the city.
In the 1970s, the Afghan government converted the imposing structure into a museum. The Taliban were less civic-minded, bolting artillery guns on the parapets and torturing political prisoners in the dirt courtyards.
With the help of $1.2 million in U.S. aid, the ravages of time and the Taliban have been repaired. Earlier this month, Afghan and U.S. officials presided over a ceremony celebrating the citadel’s restoration.
On a recent afternoon, Omid Mojaddidy, 30, a Herat native, ascended the steep, curling stairs inside a corner tower, stepping from shadows into sunlight when he reached the top.
The country’s third-largest city spread out below him, an urban labyrinth of some 400,000 people. The majority live in mud-brick homes as primitive as the dwellings of the Timurids.
He blew out a long breath. The climb hadn’t tired him. He was suffering from history fatigue.
“Enough with the past,” said Mojaddidy, who has resided in the city his entire life except to attend college in neighboring Iran. “Tear down the citadel, get rid of the old buildings....”
(Martin Kuz )
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